Apple's risky bet on CarPlay • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#351

Post by vladvasiliu » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:10 AM UTC

ghosty141 wrote: post #347

mlinhares wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Second this, had VW, GM and Ford cars, complete unusable shit without carplay, doubt the other car makers are any better. The insane lag to enter anything on google maps on my 2024 Yukon is ridiculous. Worse, the fact it makes me TYPE in the touchscreen instead of letting me do this on the phone is yet another reason to completely ditch it. Google could easily let me control it through the phone (as they do with yout…

Mercedes seems to be quite good from what I’ve heard and seen on ytube. Not cheap though.

Drove a rental GLA last September, and the system was quite nice to use. No noticeable lag.

Also, the integration with the iphone was top-notch. It understood that the iphone provided navigation, so if I pressed the nav button while on the radio screen, it would activate google maps from the iphone. The only thing which wasn't great was typing in some long address, which is why I connected the iphone.

Rented some kind of Audi a few weeks later, and it had the usual crappy integration. "nav" is the car's laggy navigation, etc.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#352

Post by mcfedr » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:12 AM UTC

jdminhbg wrote: post #137

mcfedr wrote: post #74

I really hope the lock in with have with car/phone a connection is something the EU addresses next. I don't like that car manufacturer has to use Apple / Google software, why can they not make an app that you install and your phone connects to the car in a useful way. The reason is that only Apple apps have the required permissions and system access to do it.

What permissions do iOS or Android withhold that prevent you from doing this? The reason car manufacturers don't do this is that it makes no sense to put the software in the phone if you're not trying to make the software portable between different cars.

You cannot make an iPhone app that has access to phone calls, sms, other apps notifications, other apps screens

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#353

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:14 AM UTC

brewdad wrote: post #159

s0rce wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do people do that? I just use my phone beside the old useless infotainment. Honestly, I wouldn't buy a new car that used an in-house infotainment specifically because they go obsolete quickly (<5-10 years) and cannot be economically (or at all) to the latest tech. Carplay seems to be long lived.

My vehicle (a mid teens Volvo) doesn’t support CarPlay or AA. Its infotainment system gets its data from 3G, so it doesn’t get data anymore. Music is through Bluetooth, which works well enough. Navigating means using the clunky in-car nav with no traffic data or a phone with the volume turned way up. It’s far from ideal but at least I have zero expectations for my next car.

[deleted]

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#354

Post by mcfedr » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:18 AM UTC

ajmurmann wrote: post #252

mcfedr wrote: post #74

I really hope the lock in with have with car/phone a connection is something the EU addresses next. I don't like that car manufacturer has to use Apple / Google software, why can they not make an app that you install and your phone connects to the car in a useful way. The reason is that only Apple apps have the required permissions and system access to do it.

> I don't like that car manufacturer has to use Apple / Google software, why can they not make an app that you install and your phone connects to the car in a useful way. I've had some rental cars that wanted me to install a manufacturer app. Super annoying! Just let me plug my phone in and project my screen and speakers. I don't want to get adjusted to a new UI with each car I drive, or worse sync stuff. I also have…

I do agree, I think mostly car manufacturers are gonna make something worse, but it would be nice to have some more competition on the market as carplay and android something are also not good.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#355

Post by esel2k » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:19 AM UTC

Shouldn’t this be exactly like the bluetooth integration? It’s just a defined protocol for basic functions like start, stop, play etc. so similarly stream any Apps from your phone with basic commands? I am happy to limit myself to a large google maps screen and the rest is control of my entertainment like I do today (open the app and then control via bluetooth).

By this we have no vendor lock in and just making sure there is a protocol downwards compatibility…

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#356

Post by kortilla » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:19 AM UTC

10u152 wrote: post #307

hedora wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m surprised Toyota doesn’t offer a hybrid pickup similar to Ford’s. I wish any manufacturer offered a 250-class electric truck with a basic trim line. They probably want to sell more cars per battery for now.

Tundra Hybrid doesn't count?

No, that’s a half ton class truck (f-150 comparable). A 250 class truck (f-250, 2500, etc) is a 3/4 ton class and is what you need if you want to tow >10k pounds while having basically any load in the truck.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#357

Post by prmoustache » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:26 AM UTC

dzhiurgis wrote: post #327

hamandcheese wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or because they want to charge a subscription for "premium data" which nobody would buy if there was CarPlay.

You don't need premium data for online maps. Premium data is for sat maps, music and live camera views. Also at $10 per month it's actually quite cheap.

Are you saying you can't listen to music in a Tesla without a subscription?

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#358

Post by pjerem » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:33 AM UTC

jkestner wrote: post #345

lanthade wrote: post #179

It’s amusing when the author says “when the phone crashes.” My 2022 Subaru Outback head unit frequently crashes or is really unresponsive. My iPhone never crashes. Car infotainment systems are garbage. I’d never buy a car without CarPlay. It’s maybe the #1 measure I have for vehicle quality when I rent on vacation.

Once my Ford's infotainment system (Microsoft CE, I believe) crashed hard, and I had to open and close the door while I was at a stoplight to get it to reset. On the other hand, the voice command system works as badly as it did when I got the car, while Siri has gotten worse.

Happens on mine too.

I discovered not later than yesterday that if I plug a Nintendo Switch to one of the USB ports (to recharge it), the interface disappears.

And this is still one of the least garbage infotainment I had to endure to this day.

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#359

Post by presentation » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:34 AM UTC

numpad0 wrote: post #81

mannyv wrote: post #4

CarPlay mostly works, and although it has issues it's definitely user-focused. CarPlay doesn't prevent car makers from tracking vehicle activity. In the end, consumers don't give a shit about the in-vehicle infotainment. It sucks, or it's AA/CarPlay. The first generation of iDrive showed that rich people people will buy cars in spite of the in-car stuff. In fact, most car infotainment sucks, yet people still buy cars…

I wonder how much of those frustrations has to do with Japanese market share of car industry; I think the touchscreen infotainment is not there because car manufacturers value it as integral and central part of car experience but simply because otherwise their product loses against one of Japanese brands. Japanese road network is a disorganized weighted node graph and absolutely not a grid, and a bulletproof navigati…

I don't own my own car here, but whenever I ride taxis or rent cars in Japan I noticed that they almost all appear to have aftermarket infotainment units. This makes sense now!

Re: Apple's risky bet on CarPlay

#360

Post by prmoustache » Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 6:34 AM UTC

Tagbert wrote: post #308

bluGill wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No touch screen i should be accessable by the driner unless the car is in park. I don't care if it is the phone or infotainment, no touchscreen is allowed.

The person I was replying to was arguing for a Bluetooth connection to their phone instead of CarPlay. CarPlay is much better from a safety standpoint than a phone screen.

You just choose a superlong playlist before starting the car and then play it randomly. You don't have to interact with the phone.

Last time I had a car I had an old mp3 portable mp3 player constantly hooked up to the car with 4GB of music inside. I would just hit play and drive and would only adjust volume from the steering wheel if I needed to. If I had a car again I would probably do the same, that is the lowest distracting way to have music in your car.